The Guildhall

The Guildhall, originally a Corn Exchange and now serving as the Town Hall, was built in 1834. It is constructed from Ham Hill stone ashlar and features a slate roof, with a T-shaped plan in a Classical style. The building has two storeys and a symmetrical five-window range. The central three windows are set forward beneath a two-storey hexastyle Doric portico, which has a continuous plinth forming a low wall to the loggia. The columns at the far left and right are positioned closer together, a design element that is echoed below and on the first-floor facade, where Doric pilasters separate the windows. The ground floor showcases a double row of Tuscan columns and an entablature, with a 20th-century facade at the entrance. On the far left and right, double doors are framed by semi-circular arches with banded rustication. All windows feature moulded architraves with cornices and consoles. Atop the building is a substantial domed cupola with clocks on three sides.

Inside, the building was remodelled around 1970, except for the council chamber and the mayor's parlour located on the first floor. The mayor's parlour, situated in the rear arm of the T-plan, boasts a high panelled plaster ceiling with chamfered edges, a glazed ceramic fireplace, a dado rail, and high skirting boards. It also contains five-panel doors with a horizontal panel in the centre and a tripartite sash window with margin-panes at the rear. The council chamber, located at the front centre, features pilasters with recessed panels, high skirting boards, and deep segmental-arched recesses at each end, with the rear recess containing a dais and an original mahogany bench, now painted. The room has a heavy plaster cornice and tall six-panel doors with applied mouldings, all framed by moulded architraves with cornices. Historical records indicate that in 1833, the Corporation Minute book noted the decision to demolish the early 16th-century Guildhall and rebuild it in a more convenient location.